The Montana House of Representatives on Friday approved a full ban on TikTok within the state and installed the state’s Republican governor to sign off on the first of its kind ban into the law.
The legislation that would too Bar app stores from wearing tiktok, dem Most wanted viral video app, was approved 54-43 in the last of two state house votes. The The state senate decided it March.
Governor Greg Gianforte must decide whether to sign the bill, veto it, or do nothing 10 days after receiving the bill and let it go into effect without his signature. A spokeswoman for Mr Gianforte did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A TikTok spokeswoman, Brooke Oberwetter, said in a statement that supporters of the bill admitted they had no viable plan for implementing the ban.
“We will continue to fight for TikTok users and creators in Montana whose livelihoods and First Amendment rights are threatened by this egregious government overreach,” she said.
Montana’s Republican-controlled legislature has become an unlikely battleground in a growing tech battle between the United States and China in recent weeks. Lawmakers in Washington have said they believe for years tick tock, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, could provide information to Beijing or be used to spread propaganda. The Biden administration has told TikTok that it wants its Chinese owners to sell their stakes in the app or face a possible national ban.
Concerns about the app have surfaced as the US government has sought to weaken China’s telecom companies and chipmakers while supporting their competitors. In 2020, the government forced a Chinese company to sell dating app Grindr.
Under Montana legislation, TikTok could be fined if it continues to operate in the state, as could Apple and Google if they allow users to download the app. The law reverses the ban that would take effect in 2024 if TikTok is sold to a company not incorporated in an opposing nation.
Proponents of the ban say Beijing could use the app to get users’ data in Montana. They point to ByteDance’s admission that some of its employees were improperly granted access to journalists’ data while investigating leaks about the company.
Montana will be breaking new ground when it attempts to ban the app. A trade group funded by Apple and Google said the companies couldn’t stop app downloads in a single state. Critics of the legislation say TikTok users could obfuscate their location to maintain access to the app and the ban could be difficult to enforce in border towns.
Lawmakers narrowly voted against a proposed amendment to the bill that would have extended the ban to all online services that provide data to hostile powers.
The ban will likely be challenged in court if it becomes law. The American Civil Liberties Union and other free speech groups have said the bill violates the First Amendment rights of Montanans who use the app. But the state attorney general, whose office drafted the bill, has said he is prepared for litigation.
